October 14, 2026
Dear Friends,
This week I shared with a dentist, a former Muslim who lives in the UK and is around 50 years old. He said he was disillusioned with the faith in which he was raised, so as an adult, he joined the American Atheist Society. He then grew disillusioned with that as well; they spent much of their time denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his deity, which caught his attention.
This dentist heard John Lennox mention my name on another YouTube program and my challenge to share the resurrection message with all takers. So he wrote to me:
Dear Dr Tour,
I know you are very busy but would like to be convinced about the resurrection of Jesus. I look forward to our discussion.
I would be grateful if you can book me a 1:1 Zoom as I do not believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus.
Warm regards,
He told me that he was looking forward to our meeting even though it would last past 10 PM his time, later than he normally stays awake. That is why he logged into the Zoom call early to make sure he caught me. He listened intently. Halfway through, I could see that he had faith to be saved, so I assured him that before the hour was complete, he’d be safely in the arms of Jesus. He stared at me with a powerful look when I said that. When it came time to pray, he said that he needed to show me something before we prayed. He held up a sheet of paper that he had written before the Zoom call began. It was his prayer to God regarding our upcoming meeting. The dentist had written two prayers on the paper:
- “I want Dr. Tour to pray with me.”
- “I want to learn how to be pleasing to God.”
I had explained how God came to this earth as a baby and then grew to be a simple man, a carpenter, and demonstrated to us how we should worship God. Jesus, the carpenter, taught that God awakened him every morning to listen as a disciple (Isaiah 50: 4-5 and Mark 1:35), and that is how we, too, are to worship. It is a very simple prescription. God himself taught us how to worship. Awaken every morning and listen in a quiet place alone with him. Secondly, I had just told the dentist to pray aloud with me. I never ask people if they would like to pray with me. People are programmed to decline. I just tell them that I am going to pray, and they are to repeat with me in prayer. They almost always comply. So his two prayers were answered: prayer and how to be pleasing to God. As I prayed, he, too, prayed aloud and was then overcome with tears. He seemed deeply sincere.
The dentist excitedly agreed to the two assignments: daily reading, as I taught him, slowly and pensively, 15 minutes every morning, before starting his workday, beginning in John 1. That is his listening to God every morning; his worship as Jesus taught us. And second, doing the Growing in Christ 13-week Bible study with Chuck Lloyd.
Acts 14:8–10
8 At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.
9 This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well,
10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.
Nobody can convince me that the gospel message does not work. It is enormously powerful. I have seen it bring men to their knees hundreds of times. Many hundreds.
God bless,
Dr. James Tour
